I am Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at King's University College at Western University . My areas of interest include critical sociology and criminology, sport, punishment, terrorism and ‘radicalization’ studies. Broadly speaking, my research focuses on how we make sense of a variety of social issues and the interventions we craft to alleviate associated harm. More specifically, I have written on Canadian and international counter-radicalization programs, the diffusion of transnational counter-terrorism policing, practices of 'scouting' high school football athletes, and constructions of national identity in response to tragedy, and cultural understandings of crime and punishment in sport. My work can be found in Punishment and Society, Crime, Media, Culture, Policing & Society, Sociology of Sport Journal, Sociological Forum, Race & Class, Educational Gerontology, TIME, LA Times,The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Guardian, The Daily Beast and Jacobin Magazine.
In addition to my scholarship, I serve on the editorial board of the Sociology of Sport Journal, as OCUFA Director on King's University College Faculty Association, and am co-editor of Emerald's Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance book series. I also serve as Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University
I am currently working on two SSHRC-funded projects. The first is entitled "How radicalization has become the dominant framework for understanding terrorism." This project is funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2019-2021) and traces the emergence of radicalization as the primary framework for understanding transitions toward political violence. The second, funded by a SSHRC Partnership Engage COVID-19 Initiative Grant (2020-21) looks at how participants in serious leisure activities make sense of the loss of sport during COVID-19 lockdown and how they perceive risk as they return to activity during and after the pandemic.
I also co-host a podcast called The End of Sport , which you can find on iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify, or simply click the link below for a sneak peek. I teach a number of courses in sociology and criminology, including introductory sociology and criminology, quantitative and qualitative research methods, sociology of sport, sociology of catastrophe, critical security studies, surveillance, and sociology of terrorism.
In addition to my scholarship, I serve on the editorial board of the Sociology of Sport Journal, as OCUFA Director on King's University College Faculty Association, and am co-editor of Emerald's Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance book series. I also serve as Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University
I am currently working on two SSHRC-funded projects. The first is entitled "How radicalization has become the dominant framework for understanding terrorism." This project is funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2019-2021) and traces the emergence of radicalization as the primary framework for understanding transitions toward political violence. The second, funded by a SSHRC Partnership Engage COVID-19 Initiative Grant (2020-21) looks at how participants in serious leisure activities make sense of the loss of sport during COVID-19 lockdown and how they perceive risk as they return to activity during and after the pandemic.
I also co-host a podcast called The End of Sport , which you can find on iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify, or simply click the link below for a sneak peek. I teach a number of courses in sociology and criminology, including introductory sociology and criminology, quantitative and qualitative research methods, sociology of sport, sociology of catastrophe, critical security studies, surveillance, and sociology of terrorism.
Recent Publications
The Guardian/ 2021
‘This is a job’: Why college players reject the insidious term ‘student athlete.’
Los Angeles Times/ 2021
How can colleges afford to pay outlandish salaries to Lincoln Riley and others?
Hockey in Society/ 2021
Gary Bettman and Don Fehr Must Go
Policing & Society/ 2021
They Call Us for Everything": Cynicism. Rural Policing, and Youth Justice(w/ Dale Spencer and Rosemary Ricciardelli)
The Guardian/ 2021
Race, Money and Exploitation: Why College Sport is Still the 'New Plantation' (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Guardian/ 2021
There’s Never Been a Better Time for US College Athletes to Unionize (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Guardian/ 2021
‘I Signed My Life to Rich White Guys’: Athletes on the Racial Dynamics of College Sports (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Guardian/ 2021
A Ruthlessly Exploitative College Football Season Finally Draws to a Close (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Daily Beast / 2021
Players Rip a 'Fucking Corrupt' College Football Season (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Time / 2020
College Basketball Needs to Shut Down During the Covid-19 Pandemic (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Jacobin/ 2020
Both Football Players and Fans are Sacrificial Lambs for American Universities (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Time/ 2020
College Football Feels All Too Normal During the Pandemic (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Punishment & Society/ 2020
'Discipline that Hurts": Punitive Logics and Governance in Sport (w/ Liam Kennedy)
The Guardian / 2020
Cancelling the College Football Season is About Union Busting, Not Health (w/ Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb)
The Guardian / 2020
'We Are Being Gaslit': College Football and Covid-19 Are Imperiling Athletes (w/ Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb)
The Chronicle of HIgher Education / 2020
Canceling the College Football Season Isn't Enough (w/ Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb)
Educational Gerontology / 2020
'For Older Folks Like Me, These Things Are Over Us...': The Challenge of Embedding iPads in Everyday Life Within a Long-Term Care Facility (w/ Alex Castleton and Alejandro Cid)
Crime, Media, Culture / 2019
Sending Messages to 'Knuckle-Dragging Thugs': Civilizing Processes and the Biosocial Revolution in the National Hockey League (w/ Liam Kennedy)
Sociology of Sport Journal / 2019
"We Are All Broncos": Hockey, Tragedy, and the Formation of Canadian Identity
Sociology of Sport Journal / 2018
In Search of a Five Star: The Centrality of Body Discourses in the Scouting of High School Football Athletes
‘This is a job’: Why college players reject the insidious term ‘student athlete.’
Los Angeles Times/ 2021
How can colleges afford to pay outlandish salaries to Lincoln Riley and others?
Hockey in Society/ 2021
Gary Bettman and Don Fehr Must Go
Policing & Society/ 2021
They Call Us for Everything": Cynicism. Rural Policing, and Youth Justice(w/ Dale Spencer and Rosemary Ricciardelli)
The Guardian/ 2021
Race, Money and Exploitation: Why College Sport is Still the 'New Plantation' (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Guardian/ 2021
There’s Never Been a Better Time for US College Athletes to Unionize (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Guardian/ 2021
‘I Signed My Life to Rich White Guys’: Athletes on the Racial Dynamics of College Sports (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Guardian/ 2021
A Ruthlessly Exploitative College Football Season Finally Draws to a Close (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
The Daily Beast / 2021
Players Rip a 'Fucking Corrupt' College Football Season (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Time / 2020
College Basketball Needs to Shut Down During the Covid-19 Pandemic (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Jacobin/ 2020
Both Football Players and Fans are Sacrificial Lambs for American Universities (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Time/ 2020
College Football Feels All Too Normal During the Pandemic (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Johanna Mellis)
Punishment & Society/ 2020
'Discipline that Hurts": Punitive Logics and Governance in Sport (w/ Liam Kennedy)
The Guardian / 2020
Cancelling the College Football Season is About Union Busting, Not Health (w/ Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb)
The Guardian / 2020
'We Are Being Gaslit': College Football and Covid-19 Are Imperiling Athletes (w/ Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb)
The Chronicle of HIgher Education / 2020
Canceling the College Football Season Isn't Enough (w/ Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb)
Educational Gerontology / 2020
'For Older Folks Like Me, These Things Are Over Us...': The Challenge of Embedding iPads in Everyday Life Within a Long-Term Care Facility (w/ Alex Castleton and Alejandro Cid)
Crime, Media, Culture / 2019
Sending Messages to 'Knuckle-Dragging Thugs': Civilizing Processes and the Biosocial Revolution in the National Hockey League (w/ Liam Kennedy)
Sociology of Sport Journal / 2019
"We Are All Broncos": Hockey, Tragedy, and the Formation of Canadian Identity
Sociology of Sport Journal / 2018
In Search of a Five Star: The Centrality of Body Discourses in the Scouting of High School Football Athletes
Race & Class / 2018
"Radicalisation: The Journey of a Concept," revisited
"Radicalisation: The Journey of a Concept," revisited
Sociological Forum / 2017
The Othering of Muslims: Discourses of Radicalization in the New York Times, 1969-2014
The Othering of Muslims: Discourses of Radicalization in the New York Times, 1969-2014
